BERKLEY — Travelers on Route 24 heading underneath the newly built Padelford Street overpass bridge can expect intermittent nighttime delays and detours during the next few weeks.

Although officials held a press conference Monday to celebrate the completion of the new Hollis E. Jennings Memorial Bridge, residual work for the foreseeable future will continue to cause traffic slowdowns on the highway.

“The bridge is done, but the ribbon-cutting might have been a bit premature,” said Michael Socci, whose MAS Construction and Bridge Inc. of Franklin won the $5.6 million bid to build the new overpass structure.

On Thursday, Socci said paving work is now underway on a section of state highway beneath the bridge.

Depending on weather conditions, he said it should take two to three weeks to repave and mill a small section of Route 24, as well as to paint striping and install a new stretch of steel guardrail.

Cyr said one night next week will be devoted to milling and the next for repaving. Both nights will require the closure of Route 24 at Exit 11 and a detour for vehicles.

Cyr and Socci said there is also some ongoing utility relocation work and minor landscaping that needs to be finished.

Socci said his crew has no control over that work, which involves telephone and power lines.

He noted that installing new above-ground lines will temporarily constrict movement on the bridge but will not affect traffic below.

Socci said either milling or paving could begin Sunday night. He said he is required, by contract, to detour traffic in either direction on alternate nights.

On nights that southbound Route 24 traffic is affected, vehicles, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., are diverted onto Padelford, then Porter and South Main streets, until finally reconnecting with the highway in Freetown.

A detour in the northbound lane of 24 diverts traffic onto Myricks Street to Route 140 and finally Route 24.

Monday’s ribbon-cutting celebrated the fact that the project came in on time and within budget. Socci said his contract gives him until November to finish the job.

“We have plenty of time, but I don’t expect to shut down and leave to do another job,” he said.

The DOT budgeted an additional $800,000 to cover “built-in contingency expenses” and traffic-control considerations, including Berkley and state police detail officers, according to DOT spokesman Michael Verseckes.

Socci praised MassHighway’s District 5 for its help in coordinating the effort with his company and local law enforcement.

“Very few jobs are easy, but every member of the team worked very well together,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - Built in the 1950s, the Berkley overpass was renamed in 1966 in honor of Hollis E. Jennings, who was killed in action in World War II.